The world champions trailed 18-6 when he arrived to replace injured loosehead prop Andrew Sheridan, with vultures again beginning to circle above head coach Andy Robinson.

It was Vickery’s first England appearance for a year after recovering from major back surgery but you would never have thought he had been away.

Roared on to the pitch by an 80,000 crowd, Vickery received a standing ovation half an hour later but this time he had the company of 14 team-mates as England turned mission improbable into mission accomplished.

Vickery’s 73rd-minute try — only his second in 48 Tests — was converted by fellow substitute Andy Goode, and England were home, safe from being labelled the worst red rose side in international rugby’s 135-year history.

Forget the pyrotechnics England might strive to produce behind the scrum. Their seventh win in a row against South Africa had straightforward rugby principles at its heart — hard graft, set-piece efficiency and territorial domination.

Vickery said: "I don’t score many tries for England and, as a substitute, I think all you can ever ask is to go to try to make an impact.

"It has been a long 12 months for me. When you’ve had an operation and you are lying there, you dream of playing for England and scoring a try, so I suppose I have done OK.

"I watched the Argentina game like everyone else last weekend and it was hugely disappointing, not just in however many games we had lost and all that stuff, but just the manner of it.

"As far as I am concerned, it wouldn’t have mattered who was in charge of the team last week. If you go out and make that many mistakes against any side you are going to struggle.

"The most important thing for me was whatever the result we got (against South Africa), is we had 80,000 people leaving the stadium proud of their rugby team. That was the only thing that really bothered me.

"Fantastic, we got the win, but I hope people look at it and say ‘yes, they got stuck in.’ We all want to play fancy rugby and score tries but at the end of the day you sometimes have to just dog it out and win.

"Rugby is a very simple game. It is about wanting it, about going out, digging in and trying to beat your opposite number. We had to do our jobs, keep our heads and keep our faith."

Vickery’s score has kept Robinson in a job — at least for now — although there can be no escaping the fact England are still struggling as they approach the third anniversary of their World Cup triumph.

There were some inspirational moments — notably, full-back Josh Lewsey’s unflinching defensive heroism that saw him complete three try-saving tackles, and lock Tom Palmer’s mighty work-rate — but England repeatedly coughed and spluttered, resembling a team short on confidence and belief.

Lewsey was among the chief contributors to a woeful kicking game while much of England’s midfield passing proved so laboured and wayward that South Africa were rarely stretched.

The real highlights came from an adventurous Springboks back division, encapsulated by fly-half Butch James’ all-round excellence and the magnificent broken-field running of rookie wing Akona Ndungane.

Once James departed nursing a knee injury midway through the second period, South Africa lost their way but don’t write them off for next Saturday’s second Test.

James’ opposite number Charlie Hodgson had already made his premature exit, carried off with a knee problem that will require a specialist’s attention today to complete another thoroughly depressing England experience for the Sale Sharks playmaker.

England will clutch at the closing 20-minute display for a platform to build on yet there must be significant improvements in all areas if they intend striking another psychological blow against their key World Cup pool opponents in France next year.

Second-half tries by Vickery and wing Mark Cueto — his 12th in 17 Tests — plus two conversions and a penalty by Goode following Hodgson’s early penalty double meant England did just enough.

South Africa, though, should have produced more scoring moments than they ultimately delivered trough tries for James and Ndungane, a long-range Francois Steyn drop-goal after Lewsey kicked the ball straight to him and eight further points by James.

"It is a feeling of incredible relief," England captain Martin Corry said. "What pleased me the most was the way everyone stuck at it, and we weren’t beaten when we went two scores behind. There was a tremendous attitude and commitment from everyone.

"It was a tough week. Nobody wanted to be part of a record-breaking run of defeats and I certainly didn’t want to be captain of that.

"At two stages of the game (England trailed 18-6 and 21-13) we were looking down the barrel, and for the team to come back from that was the most pleasing thing of all."